Postgame Quotes: #9 Maryland 79, Virginia 55

Opening Statement:
"I thought we did a really nice job tonight considering what a quick turnaround we have had. I thought we really responded and came out both halves really aggressive and ready to play. We battled through some adversity tonight in terms of foul trouble and Virginia going to the free throw line. We weren't as sharp tonight with the basketball, but I do like the fact that we established dominance on the court. I thought we defended well and I am happy about getting our first conference win."

On her team's defensive play:
"We had good defensive play tonight. We are trying to show what our identity is going to be and we are starting to consistently showing up now defensively. You can see the effort and anticipation in our players. I thought Alyssa Thomas was really aggressive and came up with steals tonight. We have to have this kind of play every night, especially when we don't know where our offense is coming from."

On Chloe Pavlech's performance tonight:
"She is just showing a great level of toughness. You can see that on both ends of the floor. Defensively, she has assignments and I thought she did tremendously with them. Offensively she managed the team really well tonight. She is doing a great job, and has been key in us starting to get some continuity in our play."

On opening position:
"It set the tone for the rest of the game. We wanted to come out and hit them hard early. I thought we moved the ball well, and you could see how crisp our passing was. We had a lot of energy tonight and you could see how we just dominated the glass. That really set the tone for us."

On the success of Tianna Hawkins and Alyssa Thomas:
"It's what we have to have in order to be successful. When they just play like they did tonight because they show up they give great effort, they compete, great things are going to happen for us. This team feeds off of their energy absolutely. They set the tone in everything that we do and it is fun to watch."

On how the three freshman have played:
"They are doing tremendous. I think probably in their mind, they think they're behind. But their curve has been accelerated obviously with the kind of experience that they have. But all three compete, they have a level of toughness, and they have a tremendous feel for the game. They continue to get more game experience. This stretch we went through at Nebraska, Connecticut, and here for their first conference play, that's tremendous experience that they've gotten right away and they've done really well."

On playing at home after a long stretch of away games:
"It's great. Obviously with the stretch that we're in, we need it. Our players are getting ready for finals next week, it gives us a chance to catch our breath and recover. And obviously to be in front of our great fans."

On whether or not the stretch of away games was planned:
"This was out of our control. The ACC/Big 10 Challenge game date is given to you, the Jimmy V date is given to you, as well as your first conference game. We learned of that and we knew that it was going to be a difficult stretch, and I am proud of us for the adversity we've faced and how we've come out of this. Now we just have to keep building on this."

On whether or not having less players will affect the team's style:
"I think we're going to have to evaluate it. It's something that we've looked at. But to be quite honest, I really felt like, given this stretch of games, at times we wore Virginia out tonight. So I feel like our conditioning, and who we are, and how we love to run up and down the floor, we hope to be able to continue."

On tonight's play:
"Tonight was just about us focusing on Maryland basketball and coming out hard. It started with our defense getting steals, and that lets the offensive work."

On the injuries the team has faced:
"I think that we are starting to become really comfortable and just every game is something new and someone steps up in a different way. I feel like we are really adjusting to the adversity and we are just as strong as when we started with a full roster."

On how Virginia was getting frustrated:
"Coming out strong, you could tell they were definitely getting frustrated, but we just kept pushing it and making them get more flustered and excel."

Virginia Head Coach Joanne Boyle

Opening Statement:
"A lot of credit goes to Maryland. They're a great team and they dominated the entire game. We've got a lot of work to do."

On Maryland's rebounding in the opening possession of the game:
"I felt like it was it was six offensive rebounds. I mean, you tell your team everything, that they are plus 20 on the boards, that we're not going to out jump them. We talked about it, we ran drills against it and we went out there and did exactly what we didn't need to do. We've got to figure ourselves out."

On turnovers:
"We turned the ball over 22 times and a lot of those turnovers were above the free throw line. There was not toughness to us tonight, which was disappointing. We're going to be challenged, and we really need to figure out what our identity is going to be this year. I feel like for a game and a half now we've been on our heels. We're going to be tested."

On Alyssa Thomas:
"Alyssa's a great player. She's an All-American. She has the ability to play positions one through four. She's a point forward and can bring the ball up. I know Maryland is going through some injuries right now and they're trying to figure themselves out, but great players step up and she's one of them. She did what she needed to do tonight to get her team a win."

Virginia forward Jazmin Pitts

On Maryland's rebounding:
"It was pretty tough. They beat everybody to the boards, so it was a real battle down there."

On the extended layoff:
"We have to find ourselves in these next 10 days and see if we want to do this or not because it's going to be a battle in ACC play come January."